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What's the most ridiculous way a buyer has tried to trick you?


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I now know that when they say their book is “around x pages” I’m probably gonna end with 30-50 pages more. The client who gives me a precise number of pages are always truthful. When I hear “around” or “about” I know the client is a tricksters.

This is so, so true. I work with exact word counts (in increments of 75) and “about 1,000” is not gonna cut it for me.

Actually, I just received an order today where the buyer said “it’s 100 words”. I sent a custom order for 100 words… when they uploaded the script after confirming the offer they said “please forgive me for the extra 4 words” 😤

The most amazing and unbelievable part of this story is…

YOU GOT AN ORDER!!!

I got crickets over here,

😃

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I just got my new favourite one:

“We consider the price to be very high. You can take over the style, the font, the background, etc… We have the impression that you know exactly that we are happy with you and take our dependence on you as an advantage.”

(For context, I offered the 35% discount for the first project which went well – which is silly, don’t do that – 40% on the second one because it was for the same occasion).

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I just got my new favourite one:

“We consider the price to be very high. You can take over the style, the font, the background, etc… We have the impression that you know exactly that we are happy with you and take our dependence on you as an advantage.”

(For context, I offered the 35% discount for the first project which went well – which is silly, don’t do that – 40% on the second one because it was for the same occasion).

(For context, I offered the 35% discount on the first project which went well – which is silly, don’t do that – 40% on the second one because it was for the same occasion).

Never do that. Even if you agree with them that it’s a one-time favor, they take it for granted that you’ll keep doing it.

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(For context, I offered the 35% discount on the first project which went well – which is silly, don’t do that – 40% on the second one because it was for the same occasion).

Never do that. Even if you agree with them that it’s a one-time favor, they take it for granted that you’ll keep doing it.

I know, I know, it was kinda cute and kinda simple and the topic melted my heart and well, there you go. I do feel silly now, though.

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I know, I know, it was kinda cute and kinda simple and the topic melted my heart and well, there you go. I do feel silly now, though.

I understand… And then you get something creepy like “But we have bonded over the previous project, I’m unhappy about your regular prices and delivery times.”

(That’s a true story, a customer said that we have bonded)

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I understand… And then you get something creepy like “But we have bonded over the previous project, I’m unhappy about your regular prices and delivery times.”

(That’s a true story, a customer said that we have bonded)

(That’s a true story, a customer said that we have bonded )

They should pay more since getting bonded is not that easy :rofl:

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I just got my new favourite one:

“We consider the price to be very high. You can take over the style, the font, the background, etc… We have the impression that you know exactly that we are happy with you and take our dependence on you as an advantage.”

(For context, I offered the 35% discount for the first project which went well – which is silly, don’t do that – 40% on the second one because it was for the same occasion).

I think I totally understand this feeling 😅

Just a recent message:

“…other work of the same type is going on and I have so many other projects every week. I am looking for some one who possed good knowledge in this filed. I am sure that u have. Price should not be the barrier for this.”

In fact, it turned out that the price shouldn’t be the barrier for me to make something worth $60 for $20.

But I have to say that customers are great in general, while these are rare exceptions.

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I just had an experience with a buyer, he was trying a passive aggressive way to guilt me. In essence the buyer placed an order for a logo animation and didn’t have the correct files; so I presented two options. #1 - The animation would be limited based on the file presented and if he’s ok with that then I can proceed or #2 - I can hire a designer to redraw the logo for xx price. The buyer reasons that because my gig is priced higher than others here on the site I should do the work for free but that he’d still pay the xx price. I figured I should let it go but I stated very kindly that, that wasn’t a nice comment to make and the prices are put at these amounts for a reason. I get a cancellation notice immediately (on a new order) stating “quality of work is poor” and not ‘cry’ about what he said. Well, I’m sorry but I am really tired of buyers becoming abusive, if you don’t like a price something is at, why would you buy it and then complain?

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I just had an experience with a buyer, he was trying a passive aggressive way to guilt me. In essence the buyer placed an order for a logo animation and didn’t have the correct files; so I presented two options. #1 - The animation would be limited based on the file presented and if he’s ok with that then I can proceed or #2 - I can hire a designer to redraw the logo for xx price. The buyer reasons that because my gig is priced higher than others here on the site I should do the work for free but that he’d still pay the xx price. I figured I should let it go but I stated very kindly that, that wasn’t a nice comment to make and the prices are put at these amounts for a reason. I get a cancellation notice immediately (on a new order) stating “quality of work is poor” and not ‘cry’ about what he said. Well, I’m sorry but I am really tired of buyers becoming abusive, if you don’t like a price something is at, why would you buy it and then complain?

I’m sorry but I am really tired of buyers becoming abusive

Yeah and I really, really dislike the way we as sellers are supposed to “kill them with kindness” and try to come to a solution. Sometimes you do have to say something.

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This happened today.
BUYER: Sends message saying “I have a project with 15,000 words, can you send me an offer?”
Le ME: Sends offer expressing how nice it is to work with them again
BUYER: Places order and sends MS Word file which clearly says 16,000 words

So, do I ask for the extra or not? It’s an extra $10 on a $135 order.
Personally I just couldn’t be bothered this time as I didn’t discount it at all when I sent the offer which I often do for repeat clients. I apologize in advance to @jonbaas and @cyaxrex who are disappointed in me I’m sure.

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This happened today.

BUYER: Sends message saying “I have a project with 15,000 words, can you send me an offer?”

Le ME: Sends offer expressing how nice it is to work with them again

BUYER: Places order and sends MS Word file which clearly says 16,000 words

So, do I ask for the extra or not? It’s an extra $10 on a $135 order.

Personally I just couldn’t be bothered this time as I didn’t discount it at all when I sent the offer which I often do for repeat clients. I apologize in advance to @jonbaas and @cyaxrex who are disappointed in me I’m sure.

I apologize in advance to @jonbaas and @cyaxrex who are disappointed in me I’m sure.

Only a teeny-tiny bit. 🙃

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This happened today.

BUYER: Sends message saying “I have a project with 15,000 words, can you send me an offer?”

Le ME: Sends offer expressing how nice it is to work with them again

BUYER: Places order and sends MS Word file which clearly says 16,000 words

So, do I ask for the extra or not? It’s an extra $10 on a $135 order.

Personally I just couldn’t be bothered this time as I didn’t discount it at all when I sent the offer which I often do for repeat clients. I apologize in advance to @jonbaas and @cyaxrex who are disappointed in me I’m sure.

I apologize in advance to @jonbaas and @cyaxrex who are disappointed in me I’m sure.

IDK why you think I’m a word count ■■■■. Contrary to popular belief, I do give most of my buyers the benefit of the doubt. I have one buyer who keeps flitting between ordering my 300 and 500 word packages. I think he is trying to tell the difference. The thing is, he always gets 700-words regardless, as I like what he asks me to write about.

It’s people who try to manipulate me who I take umbrage with.

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I don’t know if it ever happened to you guys… but I had a person a few months ago that was talking about his 20$ million dollar company and about how successful his business is and he wanted a logo for his company however when I sent a price quote of 50$ … with many options included , source files , 3D designs… and others he said that he only wants to pay 10$ because the logo he wants is simple and he wants a ‘’ logo that pops ‘’ I have no idea what ’ logo that pops means ’ … not important anyway 😃 but to claim that you have a 20 million dollar company and to pass on a 50$ logo claiming that it’s too expensive for what he wants… well it really ‘beats’ my level of understanding .

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This happened today.

BUYER: Sends message saying “I have a project with 15,000 words, can you send me an offer?”

Le ME: Sends offer expressing how nice it is to work with them again

BUYER: Places order and sends MS Word file which clearly says 16,000 words

So, do I ask for the extra or not? It’s an extra $10 on a $135 order.

Personally I just couldn’t be bothered this time as I didn’t discount it at all when I sent the offer which I often do for repeat clients. I apologize in advance to @jonbaas and @cyaxrex who are disappointed in me I’m sure.

For me, sneaky behaviour like that means an automatic “no.” I refuse to support anyone who wants to take advantage of me and I know they’ll only find more ways to try to exploit me in the future.

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As a hip-hop ghostwriter i had a seller ask me to take off $5 on a $20 order. He said that the verse I was about to write will be recorded as a feature with a major artist and he would recommend and introduce me to them. I told him nah I’m good with the $20 and i hope he impresses the major artist with the verse i was gonna write for him.

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I don’t know if it ever happened to you guys… but I had a person a few months ago that was talking about his 20$ million dollar company and about how successful his business is and he wanted a logo for his company however when I sent a price quote of 50$ … with many options included , source files , 3D designs… and others he said that he only wants to pay 10$ because the logo he wants is simple and he wants a ‘’ logo that pops ‘’ I have no idea what ’ logo that pops means ’ … not important anyway 😃 but to claim that you have a 20 million dollar company and to pass on a 50$ logo claiming that it’s too expensive for what he wants… well it really ‘beats’ my level of understanding .

you have a 20 million dollar company and to pass on a 50$ logo claiming that it’s too expensive

He could be lying about being that rich, but he could also just be a rich ***hole. Let’s not forget most rich CEOs get to the top by stepping on people less fortuante than them. They love pinching pennies

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That is SO cheeky. I’m sorry buyers treat you this way.

I’ve found it common in freelancing in general that bad clients try to butter you up and offer some sort of perk that they think will compensate for paying you poorly and mitigate their exploitation.

some sort of perk

You mean like our favorite… EXPOSURE?? Sweet, sweet exposure. I just paid my landlord in exposure last month! Thank goodness I’ve received so much exposure lately from my clients.

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  1. can you do it for 5$
  2. can I have a demo before the order?
  3. its a easy task that it will take 5 minutes to get it done so I pay you just…

    there are more ridiculous request but this are the most famous for me and I usually replay "no thanks"and they quit!

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Selling my voice as part of a package for their own gig and not paying for commercial rights.

Then they message saying ‘their client doesn’t like it’ and they want a refund. Disgusting really.

their client doesn’t like it

I am not responsible for your client! YOU ARE! This makes me so angry. I do NOT work for your client. I don’t care if they’re displeased. That is a risk YOU take when you outsource your work. Ugh!

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“I have a very simple task”
“I can do it, but I have no time, I’d rather pay to get it done…”
“Based on your profile, this shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes to do”

These are the ones I get from time to time, and most of the time, I end up not doing their work, because of course, their budget is ridiculous.

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“I have a very simple task”

“I can do it, but I have no time, I’d rather pay to get it done…”

“Based on your profile, this shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes to do”

These are the ones I get from time to time, and most of the time, I end up not doing their work, because of course, their budget is ridiculous.

Based on your profile, this shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes to do

I’ve never had anyone say this to me, but it seems to be so common with other sellers! I think buyers forget that they’re not just paying for “10 minutes of work” (and let’s be real, no project takes 10 minutes!), they’re also paying for the years of experience that makes you qualified to do the job.

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Based on your profile, this shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes to do

I’ve never had anyone say this to me, but it seems to be so common with other sellers! I think buyers forget that they’re not just paying for “10 minutes of work” (and let’s be real, no project takes 10 minutes!), they’re also paying for the years of experience that makes you qualified to do the job.

Exactly.

I hate it when buyers try to be charged based on time.

I tell them, that actually doing this within 10 minutes or faster makes me want to charge you more.

Time is a factor no doubt, but the faster the job is done the more I charge, this is where me and these buyers do not agree.

But to be fair, most of my buyers actually pay me more for my speed.

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